Monday, March 26, 2012

Japanese casual
clothing store Uniqlo has just open a new store in Ginza. The new flagship store
is the company largest in the world. The 12th floors building glass
and steel beam front, it is effectively used as a display for the store
clothes.

A large
number of the store employees are foreigners, to accommodate for the large
number of foreigners customers visiting Ginza. Since the store opening large
queues form in front of the store, to my surprise many Japanese people also
queued to enter the store, even though there are uniqlo store everywhere, perhaps
is due to the store novelty and exclusive models.

A casual low
cost clothing store and Ginza may seem like a mismatch, the store is looking to
enhance its brand to compete with competitors like H&M and Zara, whom
already have stores at Ginza, and point up that low cost does not equal to low
quality.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Shinjuku at peak
hours (early morning and after six) is a very well organized chaos, an
incredible number of people filling the streets and stores on the way to and after
work. Surprisingly the streets are relatively empty in the hours in between.

Shinjuku street
fashion has its distinct characteristics, like the other big areas in Tokyo, a
mix between the elegant Ginza, and the hipster Shibuya. Perhaps due to the type
of companies based in the area.

The kabukicho
area is almost deserted before six, as it consist mostly of restaurant-bars,
and after-hours recreational places.

The east exit
area is the busiest, as there are many department stores along the Shinjuku Street.